from the tree to the porch. Mark in the angle that the tree is leaning. Then draw a line from the porch to the top of the tree, showing what the sisters are looking at: mark on the angle they noticed.You should now have a triangle with two angles and a side. That should get you started.......
h/tan 83 + h/tan 22 = 103 (calculator)
h ~ 39.6478 feet
Point of detail: Standing on their porch 103 feet away from a tree leaning slightly towards them they would only see a shortening of apparent height. They would need to walk up to the tree and view the sloping tree from a sight line perpendicular to the observed sloping to make their estimate of 7 degrees and if they did this it would have to be very fortuitous, (for calculation purposes but perhaps not for their garden), to discover that the sloping was directly towards the house.
Regards - Ian
You need to draw yourself a diagram. Sketch a simple picture showing the tree and the porch. Draw a straight line for the ground between the base of the tree and the porch. Write on your diagram how far this distance is, from the tree to the porch. Mark in the angle that the tree is leaning. Then draw a line from the porch to the top of the tree, showing what the sisters are looking at: mark on the angle they noticed.
You should now have a triangle with two angles and a side. That should get you started.
